The American Task Force on Palestine

The Foundation for Middle East Peace

The Middle East Institute

The Future of the Peace Process: A Palestinian Perspective

A light lunch and refreshments will be provided

As a new Administration gets ready to take office in the United States, and as Israel prepares for elections, questions arise regarding the future direction of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. What are the Palestinian positions on the format for negotiations and the substance of permanent status issues. i.e. borders, settlements, Jerusalem, refugees, after more than a year of negotiations? How much progress has been achieved in the Annapolis negotiations on specific issues? What is the Palestinian position on the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for negotiations? Can peace negotiations survive the political "down-time" until the political maps in Israel and the US become clear in the coming months? If so, how can the intervening period be best used to preserve progress and lay the ground for renewed negotiations? What effect does the situation in Gaza and the turbulent Palestinian domestic developments have on the negotiation process? What do the Palestinians want from the new US Administration?

These issues will be discussed with:

Maen Areikat, Deputy Head and Coordinator General of the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD) of the PLO. In addition to overseeing NAD operations, Mr. Areikat supervises the Negotiations Support Unit (NSU) and the Negotiations Secretariat, which was recently established to follow up on committee meetings between Israelis and Palestinians. Prior to his service at NAD, Mr. Areikat spent six years at the Orient House and took part in numerous Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

Rami Dajani, Legal Advisor for the Security File at the Negotiations Support Unit (NSU). Mr. Dajani is responsible for overseeing technical preparations on issues related to final status negotiations on security and is among the primary advisers to the Palestinian leadership on Palestinian Roadmap obligations. Prior to joining the NSU, he practiced commercial and administrative law in Toronto, Canada.

Khaled Elgindy, Policy Advisor for the Settlements File at the Negotiations Support Unit (NSU). In addition to managing the NSU’s settlements file, Mr. Elgindy is heavily involved in strategic planning and U.S. outreach efforts at the NSU. Before arriving at the NSU, Khaled spent nine years in various political and policy-related positions in Washington, both in and out of government.

RSVP Foundation for Middle East Peace: info@fmep.org, or call 202 835 3650